Favorite Reads of 2021 - A Baker's Dozen

Fiction

The Proper Place by O. Douglas (1926): After Sir Walter dies, his family is forced to sell the family estate and move to a modest home in Fife.  Nicole adapts to her new life with maturity and grace while her cousin Barbara is unwilling to accept their change in circumstances.  This was my first five-star book of the year!   My review.

The Christmas Party by Karen Swan

Title: The Christmas Party
Author: Karen Swan
Publication: Pan Books, paperback, 2019
Genre: Fiction/Romance
Setting: Present-day Ireland

Description: When their father dies unexpectedly, sisters Ottilie (Ottie), Philippa (Pip), and Wilhelmina (Willow) are devastated, and the way he left the estate causes even more angst.

My Year in Books – 2021

These memes were popular last year so I am recycling one I liked. Links go to my reviews.

Rules: Using only books you have read during the year (2021), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. Let me know, below, if you did a version of this too.

Describe yourself:

How do you feel:  Yours Cheerfully or Do Not Disturb, depending on my mood

Describe where you currently live: A Place to Hang the Moon

Living with a Dead Language by Ann Patty

Title: Living with a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin
Author: Ann Patty
Publication: Viking, hardcover, 2016
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir
Setting: Upstate New York

Description: When editor Ann Patty retired from Manhattan’s publishing world to her weekend retreat in Rhinebeck, NY, she was unexpectedly bored and afraid her mind would atrophy through lack of intellectual stimulation.

WWW Wednesday – December 22, 2021

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading: The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman, about a meteorologist who loses her job and has to take the only news station that will hire her – in her hometown in Northern Michigan, which she has avoided for years.

Star-Crossed by Minnie Darke, a delightful romantic comedy

Title: Star-Crossed
Author: Minnie Darke
Publication: Crown, hardcover, 2019
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Present-day Australia

Description: When Justine, an aspiring journalist at the Alexandria Park Star, a quirky magazine, runs into her childhood friend Nick, trying to get his break as an actor, she is as smitten as she was at their last encounter as teens but is now more creative.

The Lost Girls by Jessica Chiarella

Title: The Lost Girls

Author: Jessica Chiarella
Publication: Putnam, trade paperback, 2021
Genre: Suspense
Setting: Chicago

Description: Marti Reese has never recovered from her sister’s disappearance – how could she when, at eight years old, she was the only witness to Maggie’s getting into a car with a man Marti did not know.

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo

Title: The Beatryce Prophecy
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Publication: Candlewick Press, hardcover, 2021
Genre: Middle-grade fantasy

Description: Brother Edik belongs to the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing and, although a timid fellow, he has the gift of prophecy and has predicted that a king will be deposed by a girl.

Fauci, Expect the Unexpected (Life Lessons from the Great Doctor)

Title: Fauci, Expect the Unexpected
Subtitle: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and the Way Forward
Publication: National Geographic, hardcover, 2021
Genre: Nonfiction/Inspirational

Description: Based on interviews from a National Geographic documentary, this book from world-renowned infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci shares the lessons that have shaped his life philosophy, offering a close-up view of one of the world’s greatest medical minds as well as universal advice to live by.

November 2021 Reads

November was a great month of reading. I especially enjoyed A Single Thread, set between the wars in England; The Secret River, a historical novel about a convict rebuilding his life in Australia; State of Terror, a thriller by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny; and my reread of The Parfit Knight by Stella Riley, a regency with a blind heroine.  Also, amazingly, this is my 1000th blog post!

The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer

Title: The Matzah Ball
Author: Jean Meltzer
Publication: Mira, hardcover, 2021
Genre: Holiday fiction
Setting: Present-day New York

Description: Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt has always been aware that people expect perfection from a prominent rabbi’s daughter but her life fell apart in college when she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and she has felt imperfect since.

Six Degrees of Separation – from Ethan Frome to March

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place, add six books, and see where we end up. This month’s starting point is Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (1911), which involves a love triangle and a fateful sledding accident.

First Degree

A sledding accident with a less tragic outcome begins Louisa May Alcott’s Jack and Jill (1880); you may recall I secured my own copy in June.

WWW Wednesday – December 1, 2021

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Right now, I am reading And She Was by Alison Gaylin, suspense fiction about a woman haunted by the abduction of her sister when they were both children.